April 1, 2008 - Guitar Hero enthusiasts whose musical tastes' fall on the extreme side of the audio spectrum are in for some seriously insane shredding this fall. Today Activision announced the next full installment in the Guitar Hero franchise will be an epic all-metal affair of ear destroying proportions. It will soon be time to raise your devil-horned fists to the sky and utter a prayer to the dark lords of heavy metal.

Set to hit the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, and Wii in late Q3 2008, Guitar Hero IV: Lords of Darkness will a feature a finger-blistering array of tracks across a wide spectrum of ultra-heavy styles including black metal, grind, power metal, thrash, and more. With over 50 main tracks to make players' ears bleed and over 30 unlockable bonus tunes to crank up to 11, Lords of Darkness is expected to be the most extreme Guitar Hero yet.

"Serious metal fans will be floored by the sheer shred-factor in Lords of Darkness. This isn't your mama's Guitar Hero," said Dusty Welch, head of publishing at RedOctane. "If your fingers aren't raw and bleeding by the time you hit the final boss, then we'll give you a refund. Lords of Darkness should give even best Guitar Hero players a run for their money while at the same time making a whole realm of ultra-heavy musical fun accessible to all audience. Well almost all audiences."

In a GameStop exclusive, the first 10,000 customers to pre-order Guitar Hero IV: Lords of Darkness will receive a complementary spiked leather wrist band. A new ultra-metal guitar peripheral variation is also in the works. Improved boss battles will put players head-to-head against the likes of Slayer's Kerry King, shred master Yngwie Malmsteen, and DragonForce guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman. A robust number of new venues will let you throw down the mosh for fans in countless dives, eerie clubs, and odd locales around the globe. Also, new brutal multi-player attacks include: spitting blood on an opponents' screen, smashing them in the face with your guitar, and ultra-mosh breakdowns, among others.